TALKBACK #7: Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster

[Destroysall]

[Rodanex]

[Gman2887]

[lhb412]

[briizilla]

[jellydonut25]

[Goji 84]

[VeryMacabre]

I'll admit, vs The Sea Monster is one of my favorite films period. Most of that is Nostalgia Goggles, but I still feel like it holds up to scrutiny if only because once it gets going it is just so fun.

It helps that it was my first exposure to the big G, and that I still have the VHS my grandmother gave me for my birthday when I was young. It just means a lot to me, and I'm always up for watching it.

[briizilla]

[MekaGojira3k]

[DannyBeane]

[VeryMacabre]

[Arislan]

My daughter told me the other morning that she had a nightmare where she was being chased by the Red Bamboo.

So I guess the movie worked.

[briizilla]

[VeryMacabre]

[Dr Kain]

After the success that was “King Kong vs. Godzilla,” Toho planned to do additional movies that feature King Kong, one of them being on an island with a terrorist group and a giant lobster for a villain. Unfortunately, this did not happen as King Kong was replaced with Godzilla, which in turn gives us one of the most disjointed movies in the entire Showa era that just does not seem to fit well with the timeline regardless of how you slice it.

The plot of the movie is very basic with a guy goes looking for his brother, they crash onto an island that is run by terrorists and protected by a giant lobster. They wake up Godzilla and he fights them, things blow up, and Mothra saves the day. There are some really good ideas here, but as a Godzilla movie, this plotline just does not work. The Red Bamboo are some of the dumbest villains imaginable and it makes me wonder how they even succeeded in being a terrorist group. They make the cartoon version of Cobra look intelligent. Then there is Godzilla, who is completely out of character here. Yes, the plot was originally written to be King Kong, but they never bothered to change it around so that it actually fits Godzilla’s persona instead. The whole staring at Dayo, going to sleep, and standing around like a monkey is not the very concept of Godzilla. As such, this movie just insults his characterization over the previous ten years’ worth of movies. He may have been a little dumbed down in the previous movie, but this is just insulting. As previously mentioned, this movie just does not seem to fit in with any of the other movies. Mothra is for some reason sleeping and needs to be woken up to save people. That makes no sense. Nor does the fact that when did Mothra become an adult? Is this the same Mothra from “Ghidorah The Three Headed Monster” or a different one? If it is, then is the larva from “Destroy All Monsters” a different one? In the end, Godzilla flees the island as he chases after “Honey Nut Cheerios” bee and the day is saved.

The characters are generic and boring outside of the thief, who is the only character that has any sort of personality. One of them is just obsessed with finding his brother, which is understandable, but it makes him one dimensional. The same goes for his brother’s one track mind (nor does he even resemble Ryota). The other two knuckle heads did not even need to exist as they contributed very little to the movie. Outside of one scene, the movie could have done without them. And then there are the members of the Red Bamboo, which have wasted the talents of the actors who portray their leaders.

Finally, just like everything else, the monsters in this movie are no better. Godzilla is an utter joke here. His costume looks worn out and his personality completely out of character. It does not help that he is still written to be King Kong, which is where the majority of the problems lie. That may not have any issue with some people, but it completely throws me out of the immersion of the movie. Mothra looks cheaply made as if they took what spare pipe cleaners they had and put them together. Her wings are small and everything just looks off about her. Then there is that giant bird condor, which surprisingly looks good for the whole two minutes it is on screen. Finally, Ebirah looks good, but seriously, he is a giant lobster. How terrifying can you really get with a giant lobster? There is a reason he is defeated by humans in “Final Wars.” He is a giant lobster, nothing that is at all worth getting excited over.

Overall, this movie is pretty subpar, but it does have some good moments in it. I do enjoy the moments when Ryota and the boys sneak around inside of the Red Bamboo base. The fight between Godzilla and Ebirah is pretty good overall despite the poor costume on Godzilla’s part. It is too bad that this movie looks and feels like it was made for less than 1,000 yen as there were some good ideas marred by terrible pacing, poor effects that appear done by a two year old, and one of the most degrading incarnations of Godzilla, even more so than those found in the Hedorah and Megalon movies. This is not the worst Godzilla movie ever, but if they had actually tried to make a good movie, and give it good effects, it could have been something really unique. Instead, it is just a forgettable piece of B grade quality. I give “Ebirah, Horror of the Deep” a 4/10.

[Legion]

If you say so, Kain...

[Dr Kain]

[jellydonut25]

[Dr Kain]

You are right about the water effects, those are very well done.

Now Mothra is confusing because you say they needed to convince Mothra to help, but Mothra is sleeping in this movie, not just sitting there needing to be convinced in order to help. Anyway, I'm more on wanting to know why Mothra is an adult here and then a larva in one of the next movies. Is it the same one?

As for Godzilla, see, I want my Godzilla to be a monster, which is what he is supposed to be. He is not the friend of children, which is how he is portrayed here despite there being no kids.

[jellydonut25]

Dude, imposing continuity on any of the films post-Monster Zero (at the absolute LATEST) is a fool's errand. Mothra is an adult here, a larva in DAM...why? Because. That's why.

[Hybrid Gojira]

I understand all the criticisms of how Godzilla is portrayed, at least when it comes to his Kongish behavior. Still, I like this movie. Godzilla's fight with Ebirah is well-staged and I happen to enjoy the characters quite a bit. It's really not a bad outing at all.

[Dr Kain]

[jellydonut25]

You asked. I answered. Also, if you want to rationalize it:
This adult mothra is the larva from Ghidrah now an adult, it sleeps rather than sits around like the one from Mothra vs Godzilla because it behaves differently than its mother and hell maybe it's even a meditation technique to extend its life. At some point that we the viewers never see, an egg is laid and by the time Destroy All Monsters rklls around (which is a movie set 30 years after the events of this film) the adult mothra from this film is dead and a new larva exists.

On this last point I barely even feel like I'm doing much fan conjecture at all. We've seen that mothra has a life cycle, it's more than reasonable to assume that at some far-flung future date, adult mothra would be dead and a new larva exists

[Dr Kain]

No no, I don't need you to answer. I was just being rhetorical.